Before the Knight is Over
by Bat-teen 28
Summary: The Joker is dead, Arkham City has been demolished and an old face has returned to terrorise Gotham's citizens once more. It's time for the rogues to finally beat the Batman, after all 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend.' Set after the events of Arkham City, before the events of Arkham Knight.
1. Chapter 1 It's our time!

It's our time.

Note: Okay.. well, I hope you guys like. It's set just after the events of Arkham City and just before the upcoming event of Arkham Knight! :D Hope you like! Please leave a review!

* * *

It was over. No more Joker, no more chaos; end of an era. To say that everybody was surprised was an understatement. It had shocked everyone, right to the core.

Gotham's underworld was in chaos, with no top dog, no one ruled it. True, though no one would admit it, Joker was the top dog, the one who ruled over the crazies of Arkham.

Penguin had tried to take over Arkham, but Two Face was the man with real power and he easily took over Arkham City, but it got taken down soon after the events of Protocol ten, the rogues where all taken back to Arkham, but some where taken to Black Gate as well.

But this meant that rogues could escape easily, because there were so many rogues to move at one time.

Edward sat at the back of a transfer van with Deadshot, Firefly, Mad Hatter, Jester, Harley, Two Face and Zsasz.

The guards at the front were talking about the events of the city, everyone had heard about it, one event in particular.

"I can't believe he's dead. I mean, not that I'm not happy that he's dead, but man, I never thought that guy would ever die!" commented one of them.

The second one, the one who was driving nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah I know, I mean that guy got what he deserved. Quite frankly, I believe that all of those nutters should get killed," he said, nodding behind him to the other rogues in the back.

Edward sighed and looked over at Jester. "Are you okay?"

"Since when did you care?!"

"Calm down Jester, I was only asking."

"And I was only answering."

It had been a tough few months in Arkham and there had been many back stabbings and deaths. Jester and Edward had a little back stabbing of their own and Edward was trying his best to make it up to her, because he knew that Jester was a valuable ally, no matter what the other rogues thought of her.

But there was only one thing Jester wanted to hear him say, but Edward was never going to say 'sorry', no matter how much it meant to him, he was never going to say it.

"Oh… Mista' J'. I miss him so much…" wailed Harley.

Deadshot sighed and leaned his head back against the wall of the van.

Suddenly there was a loud bang and the van skidded out of control, before landing on it's sighed.

"Oww…" moaned Harley.

"Oh god… what the hell..?" muttered Deadshot.

Firefly slowly sat up. "Oh good god… what in god's name?"

"Oh… oww… Jester..? Are you okay," asked Edward as he pulled himself up into a sitting position.

Jester nodded and groaned. "Oww… what the hell happened?"

"I do not know my dear Queen of Clubs…" Jervis muttered.

Two Face slowly sat up and walked towards the edge of the van.

"It's unlocked, we can bolt it," he cried.

Edward quickly undid his handcuffs and helped Jester with hers.

"Say, Nigma, Lawton! Give me a hand with opening these doors! They're stiff!" he yelled at them.

"Yeah, just give me a second!" growled Floyd as he undid his cuffs and climbed over the benches, with Edward following him, leaving Jester to unlock Harley and Jervis.

The three of them began to shove and ram the door as hard as they could and it eventually gave way. Two Face climbed out, shortly followed by Floyd and then Edward climbed out.

Jester climbed over and placed her hands together for Jervis to stand on.

"Say Eddie, help Jervy up!" she yelled.

Edward turned around and held his hand down, as Jester lifted Jervis up as best she could. Then Harley quickly came running over to them.

Edward helped her up and then Firefly came.

Jester looked up at him and he held his hand down to her. Here they needed to help each other, no matter what differences they had, they needed to get out of here.

"Okay well, we better split!" shouted Two Face.

They all nodded and began to run away, with Edward grabbing Jester's arm.

"Hey, what the hell are Ya' doing Eddie?!" she shouted.

"Look, I'm going to make this up to you got it?!" Edward shouted back as they raced down the street. "Besides, you have nowhere to stay do you?"

Jester looked down, then at the sky just as the few rain drops began to descend from the sky, before a tilde wave of rain water came thundering down.

"Well, this is just perfect," muttered Jester.

"Stop your idiotic complaining Jester! You'll just have to consolidate and get used to it!" he growled.

"What the hell does consolidate mean?" asked Jester.

Suddenly someone smacked the butt of a gun into Edward's face. Jester cried out in shock as he fell to the floor, before a gun was pointed in her face.

Jester quickly put her hands up in surrender as Edward slowly got onto his hands and knees. He turned and saw a man sneaking behind Jester with a club in his hand.

"Jester look out!" he shouted.

The young clown girl dodged the blow and with acrobatic skill, dodged the few more punches thrown her way, before spin kicking and knocking the guy out, but he wasn't alone.

More of the idiots came running towards Jester, bats held high and ready to strike. But Jester was a rogue and a street kid at heart, so she easily dodged the many swings and punches. If you had been sitting far away, you would've thought it was a dance, all trained into doing something at the right time in the right place.

Edward continued to watch when a rough hand grabbed him and hoisted him to his feet, then he felt the cold steel of a blade at his throat, before his arm was pulled behind his back.

"Hey, Ya' little brat! I got Ya' buddy here! Ya' better give up, or I'm gonna' become real famous!" shouted the guy, in a gruff voice, fit for the rough hands.

Jester stopped and turned to see the sight in front of her. She saw the glint of the knife in the yellow street light and her body froze. There was nothing she could do to help, she was useless at such things.

"Now, give up and I won't ruin your buddy's neck line, if Ya' catch my drift!" the man spoke.

Jester slowly lowered her hands and kept her eyes firmly fixed on the blade at Edward's throat.

Suddenly one of the men behind her, smacked her right in on the back of the head with their club.

"Watch it! The boss don't wan't them too damaged!" yelled the thug who held Edward.

Edward swallowed the lump in his throat, he didn't know who he had double crossed this time, but he guess he would find out soon. People in Gotham didn't stay quiet or hide if it was on the subject of revenge, it was how the city worked and it was why it had so many scars.

"Pass me the chloroform!" shouted the thug who was holding him.

Edward stiffened up and began to struggle.

"You ain't going anywhere!" growled the thug.

Edward could feel the man tighten his grip around his neck, he slipped his knife away and held his hand out for the cloth.

Suddenly a white cloth was pressed to his face and he struggled even more.

"Why don't we just knock him out like we did her?" asked one of the other thugs, who sounded like their IQ score, a monkey would be ashamed of.

"Because the boss don't want his head damaged, says that when he came to, he would give him the biggest headache as he complained about the brutality towards his precious mind," there was obvious humour in his voice as he pressed the cloth harder against Edward's face.

He couldn't hold his breath any longer and had to breath in the sweet smelling liquid that was on the cloth. Chloroform worked quickly and Edward knew that, so he began to struggle even more violently, but eventually his movements became sluggish and slowly his world went black.

* * *

The dripping of pipes was the first thing he heard, then he could smell the stench of bleach and… fear toxin? Could it really be fear toxin or was it juts his senses playing tricks on him after the effect of the chloroform?

He slowly sat up and rubbed his head. Where was he? He was on a bed, quite a nice one actually. But who would do that? Definitely non of the other rogues he knew… maybe Sphinx would… but she hadn't spoken to him recently.

The room reminded him of one from Lacy Towers and he soon released that meant he was somewhere quite high up in the wealth department.

A light moan directed his attention to side of the room where Jester was lying unconscious on the sofa.

Edward slowly got to his feet and walked over to her. "Jester? Are you okay, wake up!"

Jester's eyes fluttered open to show bright, jade, green eyes, staring up at him with confusion.

"Are you okay?" he asked again.

Jester nodded and slowly sat up. "Yeah…. but what the hell happened?"

I don't know. I'm a bit perplexed by the whole ordeal myself," Edward confessed before helping her stand up.

"Hello old friends… I understand if you are confused, but I needed to make my survival concealed. No point spoiling the surprise before the main plan has even been created."

Edward and Jester froze. They had heard that voice before, so many times before. It sent a chill up any Arkhamite's spine let alone Gothamite. It even chilled Batman to the bone. That one voice was fear itself and the person it belonged to was truly fear in carnet.

"Jon?" Edward questioned.

A cackle that Edward had heard so many times, usually directed at some poor victim who was cowering in fear, hit their ears, causing Jester to involuntary shiver in slight uneasiness.

"Gee Jonny. You do like to hide don't Ya'," she commented.

Jonathan smirked and walked out of the shadows, reviling his lanky frame and stick like figure, something that truly did remind Jester of a scarecrow. Now she could truly see why they called him a scarecrow when he was a boy, he looked just like one. Tall and thin, bones slightly coming out of the skin at unhealthy paportion.

"Indeed. Now, I understand if you two are shocked to see me, but I suggest that you hide it, you know me and any emotion that is connected to fear in any way," laughed Jonathan.

"Yeah Jon… we know," Edward sighed.

"Now.. I suppose you would want an explanation?" Jonathan said as he walked over to them.

"One would be nice, yes."

"Well, it is because Joker is dead, but that is only one of the reasons."

"Why does the J man's death got anything to do with it?" asked Jester as she scooted a little closer to Edward.

"My dear little broken reflection, it has everything to do with it," laughed Scarecrow as he walked towards the balcony, Jester and Edward followed. "Look at our proud city, look how bright and proud it shines in this morning light, knowing that at night it will be transformed into a monstrous creature, much like the transformation of a werwolf do you not agree?"

"Yeah… I guess," muttered Jester.

Jonathan smirked and gestured to the people below. "Look at them. They act like they haven't a care in the world and they don't when it's day time, but as soon as that sun sets and the monsters come out to play, well that's when they get worried and yet they still go out at night… and do you know why?" Scarecrow turned to them and they stood there staring at him. "It is because they believe that their precious protector will come down and save them, when in actual fact, he never does. But you never hear of his failures do you? but there are so many."

Edward sighed. "So, what's you point Jonathan?"

"Edward. Surly you must relies, that now, with Joker out of the way, we can form a alliance with out fellow Arkhamites and destroy the bat, once and for all?"

"It has crossed my mind."

"I thought it would. That is why I need you two's help. You see, I need your skills. Your hacking and smooth talking and Jester, your knowledge of the streets and who to get the best guns from, but I need our other Arkhamite's help too. I can not conquer the bat on my own," Scarecrow explained.

"What are you getting at Jonny?" asked Jester.

"Do you not see it? If we band together, we would be unstoppable. Not even Batman could win. We came close to killing him at the Arkham riot… but not close enough and do you know why?" asked Scarecrow, eyeing them with a calculated gaze.

"Umm… no," Jester answered.

"We failed in our mission to kill him because Joker didn't follow the plan. If he had, we would of won. I realised this too late, that is why I faked my death."

"So.. you're saying we should all team up?" asked Jester.

"Yes, little girl, I am."

"Why?"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"Very poetic," muttered Edward. "It's a great idea in theory Jonathan, but will it work?"

"Work? Of course it will work. I have a plan you see and.. I have a new acquaintance, who will provide much help," Scarecrow explained, with the corners of his mouth twitching at the prospect of his glorious plan working and them being rid of the bat forever.

The cool breeze of Gotham blew past them and Scarecrow turned towards it, causing his hair to blow back and his shirt to blow in the breeze a little too. "So my friends, what do you say? Are you going to help in the bat's gory demise?" he inquired.

Jester looked at Edward who need his head at her. "Yes, I believe we will aid you, I mean who in their right mind wouldn't?"

"Ha, everyone Eddie!" laughed Jester.

Edward rolled his eyes before following Scarecrow inside again.

"There's just one complication I would like to discuss with you," he said as he stood in the door way, studying the old ex-professor as he cleaned his glass, before placing them back on.

"Oh and what is that Edward?" asked Scarecrow.

"This… new acquaintance of yours; who is he exactly?"

Jonathan chuckled. "I do not know his story, all I know is his alias."

Jester walked into the room and stood just in front of Edward, her head tilted to the side.

"And what's his alias Jonny? Are Ya' going to tell us and will we ever meet him?" she questioned.

Jonathan turned to his friends. "Yes. You will meet him, hopefully very soon. as for his name," he walked over and poured himself a drink, before taking a tiny sip. "It's Arkham Knight and soon, everyone in Gotham will know it, especially a certain pointy eared vigilantly and then… Gotham will be ours."

T.B.C:


	2. Chapter 2 Let's start a war!

Lets start a war!

Note: Yes the next part! :D The next chapter! :D Oh and don't worry I will be answering questions on 'Q and A' very soon, I promise! :D

* * *

People came back from the dead constantly. One minuet someone was dead, the next they weren't. It was one of the things that made being a rogue difficult. One minuet someone was dead and buried six feet under, then they were jumping around and having a grand ol' time at your birthday party.

It made many rogues exclaim 'what the hell?' frequently.

"Say… Eddie, you awake?" asked Jester as she gazed over at him in the bed.

"Well, I wasn't but I am now," he sighed in irritation. "What is it?"

"Where you surprised that Jonny came back? I mean, from the dead like?" she asked, before getting up and wandering over to him.

"Am I surprised that my old friend, who was meant to be dead has come back? No."

"Mean neither," Jester answered before sitting next to him.

Edward rolled onto his side and closed his eyes.

"So… why do you think he came back?" Jester questioned.

Edward sighed and answered her, his eyes still closed. "I believe he told us that this morning. Would you not agree?"

"Well… yeah I guess, but still… why do you think he really came back?"

"Because he wants to kill Batman."

"Any other reason?"

"Must there be another reason?" Edward snapped at her.

"I guess not."

Silence blissful silence. Edward sighed and settled down again, his covers were pulled up to his chest with his back to Jester; who was still sitting on his bed, with her legs folded up to her chest, head resting on her knees and arms wrapped around them.

In the pale light from the city her pale, chalk, white skin began to glow, making her look almost angelic, if not for the short black and white hair or the murderous shine to her jade green eyes.

"So… what do you think we'll be doing tomorrow?" she asked.

Edward scowled and sat up to face her. "Why are you in my bed?"

"Well, technically I'm on _top_ of it I'm not in it, but in answer to your question, I'm trying to talk to you," Jester answered.

Edward sighed. "Jester. I'm tired and I really want some sleep. Please leave."

"But, I'm bored. There's nothing to do!"

"There is. It's called sleeping," Edward growled.

"But that's so boring! Besides, you suffer from insomnia how the hell are you tired?" shouted Jester.

Suddenly the door burst open and Scarecrow stood there, in his costume, mask resting on his arm.

"What is it Jonny?" asked Jester.

"It's time to see the others. Edward I trust you did what I asked and got all of our fellow Arkhamites to come to the Iceberg Lounge?" asked Jonathan as he pulled his mask over his face.

Edward paled a little, with Jester glancing up at him with slight concern. "Um… yes, naturally."

Scarecrow narrowed his eyes, even with them concealed behind a mask you could tell, the breathing mask moved a little. "You didn't did you? I knew you wouldn't."

"Then why ask me, you insufferable straw man?!" Edward yelled.

Jester glanced at them before shaking her head. "Look, I'll call them."

"No, no, no! Let me, since I was meant to do it, yet someone forgot to tell me," Edward growled before grabbing his phone and starting to call them all.

"Well, get dressed too. We need to be ready, more importantly, _you_ need to be ready," Crane growled out, before leaving the room.

Jester sighed and quickly got to her feet. "He's right Ya' know."

"About what?" huffed Edward as he got out of bed and walked towards his dresser, that Crane had brought for him.

"We need to be ready."

"I am ready. I don't know about you, but I most certainly-"

"Eddie, the others will think we knew all along and that's not the case, they'll think we've been keeping secrets from them and you know how they get with stuff like that," jester reasons.

Edward sighs and turns to the young girl. He knew one thing that so many others didn't. He knew Jester was smart. That was how she could put things together so quickly, how she could figure a way out of the trickiest of places, because Jester; despite how she would act and make you believe, was smart.

She'd hide it away and act stupid and dumb to give her and edge, simply because in Gotham, you needed one.

"Look. Just go and get ready, please," Edward sighed.

Jester nodded and left the room.

Edward was always nervous around Jester. Of course he hid it because in the rogue's world, you never showed weakness, it was stupid thing to do and would get you killed. But Edward, despite all his intelligence and reasoning, was frightened of Jester… no frightened wasn't the right word. He got nervous whenever she was around, partly because he didn't know how she was going to react, but another part was, she was quite smart. Not a genius like him, no Jester was no where near that sort of intellect, but she was smart.

As he straightened his tie and his collar, he couldn't help but laugh a little at how stupid it sounded. Edward Nigma, criminal master mind, nervous because of a little girl with an all in one bleach job and insane personality. It was laughable.

"Eddie, they're ready," Jester cried through the door.

Edward sighed and walked over before leaving the room and following Jester. "You've changed your costume," he remarks as he studies Jester's new choice in clothing.

Jester sighed "Yeah and you're a freakin' genius. Eddie, I have to."

"No you don't. You choose to, there's a very big difference, if only you would look at it," Edward mused as they walked down the stairs of the hideout they were staying in.

Jester glanced down at her outfit, the black and white, no sleeve hoodie open, showing her purple vest that came just above her belly button, her one long black glove and one long white one, the purple belt around the shorts with the clubs sign on the buckle, one long, over the knee black sound and one white one, with black and white trainers worn loose around her ankles, she still wore her chocker with the 'J' on it and she wore goggles, given to her by Eddie.

Her last outfit had been a little smarter with a little 'jester flare' in with it. But it just wasn't her, but this outfit fit her right down to the bone and she knew it.

As they reached outside, they saw Scarecrow waiting for them, arms firmly crossed and glaring at them like they were a hour late.

"Come on," he seethed at them as he opened the door.

They got on and the long ride to the Lounge was silent, no one spoke because no one knew what to say, but truly what could they say? Joker's death was all the rage at the moment, but rogues were never about fitting in. If you were a rogue, it meant you had to stand out.

When they arrived many of the other rogues were already there, Harley, Two Face, Penguin himself, Deadshot was there too, even Croc was there.

A wall gasp was heard as Jonathan walked into the room, a few whispers around the normal thugs 'I thought he was dead,' or 'Oh god, he ain't dead after all,' were just about heard over the deafening silence.

Jester and Edward followed Jonathan up to the stage, where the master of fear gleefully announced his return and told them of his plan, of the Arkham Knight and how they were going to crush the bat, once and for all.

"Do you not realise my friends? This is our time, our chance to win and achieve the one goal in our lives. Why should we sit around here hating each other, when we all want the same thing? It does not make any sense. So. You have heard my proposal, I wish to know your response," Crane chuckled.

Penguin nodded his head. "I'll help. It's about time we got rid of that rodent once and for all."

Harley nodded her head in agreement. "He killed my puddin' he deserves to be killed! I'm with Ya' professa' Crane!"

Two Face flipped his coin and caught it, before observing it's side. "We'll help you."

"You can count me in! Any time I get a shot at the bat, I'll take it!" cried Floyd.

Jonathan smirked and nodded his head. "I'm so very glad to hear that. So my dear fiends, it is time for us to step up and claim what is rightfully ours!" Scarecrow cried. "This is city has given us so much in our lives it's time to do something back, to show we earned it! So my dear friends, enough of the talk let's do some harm and what better way to do it, then with the Bat's demise?!"

"What about this.. Arkham Knight guy?" asked Floyd.

"You leave him to me," Scarecrow hissed. "He is non of your concern, now it's time, now it's our time!"

He smirked as the rogues stood up, with grins on their faces.

With a shriek and a cackle Scarecrow cried out. "Let's start a war!"

T.B.C:


	3. Chapter 3 There's no room for traitors

There's no room for Traitors.

Note: Okay so this is the next chapter! :D I hope you guys like it! :D Please leave a review!

* * *

The splashing of feet as they raced down the ally, trying to get away from it's winged assailant, but ultimately failing in the process. The rogue who happened to be running was Killer Croc, he looked like a crocodile and he had an appetite like one too.

As he rounded a corner he was greeted with a swift punch to the jaw, followed by another and another until he fell to the floor holding his jaw as some of his pointed teeth had been loosened and some had even fallen out.

"Where are the others Croc?!" came a savage growl from the shadows.

Croc stood up and glared. "Hiding in the shadows? Since when do I need to see you to find you Batman?" he growled before sniffing the air.

Suddenly an electric pulse hit him in the stomach and he fell to his knees, wincing in pain.

"Last chance Croc! Where are they?" Batman snarled as he walked out of the shadows.

Croc glared and snarled back in response. "It ain't the others you've got to worry about. _He's back_! And this time you won't be able to beat him! He will kill you and then Gotham will be ours!"

Batman grabbed Croc by his throat and growled. "Gotham is going to no ones, but the good people of Gotham!"

Then he knocked Croc out and contacted Gordon, before leaving the scene.

* * *

Once Batman was back at the Bat-cave he typed in the names of every rogue who had escaped and some of the voyage of them robbing a guns store. They took everything, every single weapon had been taken and all that was left was a painted question mark and a Queen of Clubs card, obviously hinting towards which rogues had taken the guns. But something was adding up. Riddler didn't care about gangs or land, he only cared about, as Jester put it, 'game' he played with Batman every time he broke out of Arkham.

So why take the guns? It was out of Riddler's MO he never took such things.

Croc had talked about someone being back in Gotham, but who was that? It couldn't be Joker. Batman knew that, he and Gordon had cremated him before any one could get hold of the body.

So who could it be?

* * *

The police were tidying up the area and sending Croc back to Arkham, where he belonged. In the comotion no one noticed the little shadow of a girl watching them.

She pulled back from the edge and into the light a tiny bit, before disappearing back into the shadows to only show black and white spiked hair.

She placed her finger to the bud in her ear before informing the person on the other end their situation.

"I am not kidding you Eddie! He got Waylon already! What are we going to do?!" Jester shouted as she walked to the edge of the building.

Edward sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He was stressed. Being responsible for the shipments and robberies plus information for their little movement was stressful. He can't remember the last time he slept, but he never really slept any way.

"Look… just come back here and we'll let the 'Master of Fear' sort this out, okay?" he sighed, before taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah but Eddie, do Ya' know how many cops there are around here at the moment?" she hissed.

"Yes. I can see them on the computer screens in front of me."

"Yeah, so do you see my dilemma?"

"No, not really."

"WHAT?!"

"I said-"

"I know what you said. That's what I'm angry about!" Jester growled.

Suddenly she could hear crackling in the background of the communication.

"Eddie?"

"It's Jonathan, actually."

"Oh. Hi Jonny!"

"Come back here right now. Please."

"Why didn't you ask before? Sure thing, I'll be there in a minuet!" cried Jester as she switched her communications off. But before she did, she could of sworn she heard Edward shout 'how come she listens to you and not to me?'

* * *

"Shut the hell up Quinn!" shouted Harvey.

"I'm bored Facey. Why can't you smile for once, like my Mista' J?" asked Harley.

Two Face sighed and glared at her before looking back at the road, before pulling up against the curb.

They got out and Harley pulled a face as cold water splashed up her leg.

"Come on Quinn!" Harvey snarled as he walked up to the supposedly 'abandoned' warehouse.

Inside the room was full of computers, monitors and speakers all of them feeding Riddler with information and intel that you couldn't get any where else.

"Nigma, where's Crane?" asked Two Face, his rough voice piercing the silence, except for the tapping of keys as Edward typed away.

"He's in-" BANG!

Edward huffed and glared at Floyd. "Keep it down Floyd!"

"Oh, get a life Nigma! I'm practicing!" Floyd snapped back.

"Do it somewhere else!"

"Nigma! Where's Crane?!" Two Face shouted.

Edward slammed his hands on the desk, obviously loosing what little hold he had on his temper and patience.

"He is in the other room," he managed to hiss out through gritted teeth.

Two Face nodded and left the room, towards the spare, which Jonathan had turned into his office.

As he closed the door to the room he heard Edward yelling at Floyd about how he liked piece and quiet.

Two Face shook his head and closed the door shut before walking over to Scarecrow.

Scarecrow was sitting in front of a computer, the glow from the screen making his glasses shine and hide his eyes.

He looked up at Two Face and shut the computer's lid, before pushing it aside. "Yes Two Face what is it?"

"Penguin's got the rest of the guns at the Iceberg. He wants to know when we should move them."

"Not yet," answered Crane as he got up to pour himself a drink of whisky.

"Not yet? Crane, Batman's already got Croc, how long do you think it will take for him to get the rest of us?" shouted Two Face.

"We should hardly worry about loosing Croc. He was not… the smartest person in this movement was he?" laughed Crane as he took a quick drink of his whisky.

"Neither is Quinn!" Two Face growled, while slamming his fist on the table.

Crane smirked and walked back to his whisky. "I have learnt in this life of crime one thing Harvey. It's a key thing to surviving Gotham and it's underworld. You should never underestimate a Quinn. Harley is smart, smarter then she makes out, she just hides it superbly."

Two Face flipped his coin and caught it, in a continuing motion before he glanced over at the computer Crane had been working on.

Jonathan turned back to him and caught him looking at the computer. "Is there anything else you'd like to discuss?" he growled, before sitting back in his chair glaring up at Two Face.

Two Face flipped his coin and caught it before looking back at Jonathan. "No, we suppose there wasn't," Two Face answered before he left the room.

He looked around the other room where Floyd was still practicing his shooting and Harley was doing her nails, with Edward still at his computers typing away.

Two Face walked over to him and leaned next to his ear. "We think we need to keep an eye on Crane."

"Oh? And why would you ever think that?" asked Edward as he continued typing while looking up at the screens, before glancing at Harvey.

"He's keeping secrets from all of us. We don't get along with people who keep secrets from us," Two Face replied.

Edward nodded his head. "Yes I know. To tell you the truth neither do I, so I've been tracking Crane's computer. He seems to making calls to an unknown messenger, I can't track it."

"Just keep an eye out," Two Face whispered before walking away.

Suddenly the door was swung open and Jester jumped in soaking wet with a big grin on her face. "HONNEY I'M HOME!"

"We can see that Punchline," Floyd laughed.

"Yes, well, I like to make my presence known," Jester explained with a grin.

"Oh we know, believe me," muttered Edward.

Jester glared over at him before throwing a damp news paper at him.

"There's Ya' stupid crossword puzzle. Do you know how many police cars almost saw me when I went to get that thing?!" she cried at him.

"I haven't the foggiest," Edward deadpanned.

"Too many!" Jester shouted. "I am never doing that for you ever again!"

"Say humbug! Do Ya' think you could help me with ma' nails?" asked Harley as she waved the black nail polish in the air.

"Sure thing Harley!" cried Jester as she bounded over.

Floyd passed her a towel as she ran past him.

"I'm just going to see Crane," Edward called as he got up from the computers, walking towards Jonathan's office.

As he was about to go inside, he stopped himself and listened.

Crane was talking to someone. But who?

"Yes I understand. We will be ready soon," Crane spoke.

Edward leaned against the door and looked through the small crack to see Jonathan sitting at his desk talking to someone over the computer.

"Yes, yes. My fellow Arkhamites want to meet you, when can they?"

"The Arkham Knight," Edward whispered to himself.

"Yes of course. Well, we should be ready by next week."

Edward knocked on the door and Crane immediately slammed his computer lid down.

"Yes?"

"It's me Jonathan. I wanted to ask you something," Edward said as he walked in.

"Well, it will have to wait, I'm in the middle of something."

"Talking to the Arkham Knight?" Edward stated.

Crane narrowed his eyes.

"Tell him I say 'hello' will you?"

Edward… Edward, Edward, Edward…" Crane trailed as he walked up to him, before grabbing his collar and shoving him against a wall. "Do you know how rude it is to listen in on other people's conversations?"

"Very," Edward chocked out.

"Exactly. So I surges that you watch your step from now on because," Crane leaned closer and hissed. "No one likes a traitor."

Then he let go of him and walked back to his desk.

"Now leave. I have more important things to be doing then dealing with you," Crane hissed.

Edward rubbed his neck before leaving the room.

Suddenly Midfright came out of the shadows.

"He doesn't trust you," she stated.

"Non of them trust me, my dear," Jonathan laughed. "But who would?"

"This is a risky business, including them in it," Luna explained as she looked towards the other room. "Is the Arkham Knight still pleased with the way things are going?"

"Yes he is. But my dear, I need to ask you to do me a favour," Jonathan sighed as he walked towards her.

"What is it?"

"Keep an eye on them for me. I have a feeling we will have to be careful around our fellow Arkhamites. So, as long as they think you're not here, we will be fine. Hide in the shadows, watch them, then come back and report everything back to me, understand?" asked Jonathan.

Luna nodded. "Of course I do Jonathan."

"Good. Like I said before," Jonathan growled as he studied the security images of the other rogues in the other room. "There's no room for traitors."

T.B.C:


	4. Chapter 4 A million dollar deal

One million dollar deal.

* * *

"Oh come on Lex!"

Jester peaked her head round the corner to see Edward pacing back and forth, talking to Lex Luthor.

"Look, it's only one million dollars, I think you could spare some of that money you have!" he yelled.

"He's still at it?"

Jester turned around to see Floyd standing there staring at the scene too. Edward was being very loud, she was surprised that Jonny hadn't heard him.

"What's it look like to Ya' Ya' idiot?!" she growled before looking back at the scene.

"Oh…. listen here you bald headed imbecile! I don't care if you don't want to, you're going to or else I'll let slip a few bits of important information, that shouldn't be let out into the public!" Edward growled.

"Yeah, Eddie, great plan. Insult and threaten the guy with huge amounts of money and connections to stop him from going into prison," Jester muttered to herself.

Suddenly Edward pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at it with a look of shock and surprise.

"I bet you one dollar he hung up on him," Floyd whispered, a smirk sliding across his features.

Jester glanced up at him and smirked back. "I bet you, you're right!"

"He… he hung up on me," Edward deadpanned.

"We should probably leave now," Jester whispered.

"Why?" asked Floyd.

Jester stared at him like he'd grown a second head. Didn't he know what Edward's temper was like. It was like a raging furnace had just been stoked up with gasoline and no one could stop it.

Plus, when it came down to his anger, Edward didn't hide it very well, there would be too much bubbling up inside him and he'd let all out, sometimes it could be just one thing, but other times it was a mixture of everything, even things that had happened to him in the past. Truth be told, when Edward was angry it was both scary and dangerous, Jester knew that, especially when she thought back to a certain time she got Eddie really angry and he wouldn't stop chasing her until he smacked her on the head and she hadn't done anything, he was just angry.

"You… don't wanna' know. But trust me, we need to leave, right now!" Jester said urgently, before racing past Floyd as she heard the first thing to get thrown and smashed against a wall.

Floyd nodded and followed after her, Edward's temper was something on a whole new level of crazy and it was something he didn't want to get caught in the middle of.

* * *

"I don't trust Jonny, Pengy," Harley sighed as she leaned back on her stool at the lounge, Two Face was next to her, with Penguin behind the bar, being the good gentleman he was and pouring Harley her drink.

The glittering chandelier above them swayed a little and the sound of splashing could be heard as Tiny was given a midnight snack.

"Why don't Ya' trust 'im, love?" asked Penguin as he poured himself a glass.

"He's been gone for too long, my Mista' 'J' woulda' found that suspicious so I do," Harley explained.

"We don't trust him either," Two Face put in, as he flipped his coin and caught it. "Croc got caught and Crane didn't do anything about, just passed it off as an unfortunate event."

"Did Ya' try 'nd explain to 'im what we need Croc for?" asked Penguin, as he lit a siggar and took a big gulp, before letting out a puff of smoke.

"We tried, but he still wouldn't have anything to do with it. So we told Nigma to keep and eye on him," explained Two Face.

"A wise course of action my friend," Penguin concluded as he raised his glass in the air. "Here's to the bat's demise!"

"Here, here!" laughed Harley, while Two Face just nodded as they clinked the glasses together.

* * *

Having lost his deal with Lex Luthor, Edward was now slumped in his seat, looking very down but he was also worrying about Scarecrow and how he would take everything.

"Probably with a good dose of fear toxin, if I'm lucky," Edward muttered to himself as he stared absentmindedly in the direction of his computers.

Crane didn't deal well with failure, well, technically neither did Edward, but it didn't make him feel any better.

Suddenly to his left a biscuit version of Batman popped up on his left shoulder; Edward glanced at it eyebrow raised as the Batman biscuit bobbed merrily up and down as Jester, in her best gruff Batman voice growled out, "Hi Eddie, I'm Batman the guy who really annoys you, eat me, eat me!"

Edward sighed and took the biscuit off Jester before turning to the young rogue with a slightly exasperated look. "Jester… I know that you're only trying to make me happy," he said as he crumbled the biscuit up. "But you see, when I blow a one million dollar deal… it really kills my appetite!" he shouted at her as she shrank back from him.

Jester swallowed and looked at the floor. "Well, Ya' might wanna buck up. Jonny's just heard about you're latest argument and he ain't happy and apparently, neither is the Arkham Knight."

Edward stared at her for a long time before getting to his feet and walking over to his computers.

Jester was still kneeling on the floor, looking at her friend with slight concern. She knew what Jonny was like when he got mad, but this Arkham Knight guy… god only knew what he would do to Eddie and Jester wasn't too keen on finding out.

"Hey! You tell Jonny that the deal's still on. I'll go to Metropolis and talk to Lex myself, how about that?" asked Jester as she got to her feet.

"Do you really think you could get Luthor to changer his mind… especially after…"

"Yeah, I can do it. You just tell Jonny and you just keep a weather eye out… okay?"

"For what?" asked Edward with a slight frown.

Jester was silent for a moment. "Just be careful Eddie and remember I'll be at your feet in the midday sun, you'll never loose me, no matter how you run _what am I _gonna' do if you get killed huh? Oh and by the way, I have a head, a tail, but never any legs _do you know who I am _and where I might get a fake passport from?"

Edward nodded his head and passed her a passport, before smirking a little. "When you don't know what I am, I'm something, but when you know what I am, I am nothing, _what am I_ going to do if something goes wrong that includes a man standing but never sitting, he has no legs yet he still stands, his arms only stay straight out and he never makes a sound, but he scares the fine birds from miles around _what am I_ going to do if he get's angry?"

Jester shrugged. "Tell him it was my idea."

Edward nodded and Jester quickly left the building.

Little did anyone know, that conversation was all in code, it was something Edward and Jester had come up with a long time ago. They would speak in riddles in the middle of a normal conversation, which usually hinted towards certain people. It was a way they could keep in contact but no one else would understand them, it was great.

But it was also dangerous. If people found out about this, if they found about their secret code, it would get them into trouble because no one would trust them and that would be a dangerous position to be in, Edward knew that, he had been in a predicament like that before and he had really wished he hadn't. He still had the scars.

But what did Jester mean about Midfright? The riddle where the answer was shadow, Midfright was the only person she could be referring too and Two Face… what about him… was she warning him about them? But why? So many questions, but all questions have answers, Edward knew that, he'd spent quite a time answering them himself.

Suddenly his phone buzzed and he pulled it out to read a text from Jester saying she was on her way to Metropolis.

Well, she'd be there soon, very soon and hopefully her little plan would work, for both their skins sake.

* * *

The rain in Gotham was chilly, it was always chilly. There was never a day that the rain was a nice cooling rain on a hot summer day, no that Gotham got many of those, but still it was always cold, always.

But in Mister Freeze's laboratory it was even colder and you generally felt like you were in the arctic.

Floyd was standing there, fingers numb, nose numb and going blue as well as his lips as he waited for Penguin and Freeze to make their deal.

Floyd was only there incase things got rough, he was backing Penguin up, so he was Penguin's body guard, because Penguin said he would only have the best, no one else.

Floyd was more the happy to oblige, but that was before he realised how cold he would get and just how mind numbingly boring this whole fiasco would be.

He was glad to be out of the hideout, however. He was in no mood to listen to Edward's screams of terror as Scarecrow gassed him and induced all manner of horrors on Edward's already fragile mind.

Floyd blew into his hands to try and bring a little bit of warmth back into them, but to no successes. How could Freeze cope? This was ridiculous!

Suddenly Penguin came back into the room, a triumphant smirk on his face.

"I take it, it went well, right?" asked Floyd as he shook his hands a little.

"More then well, it went perfectly. Come on, Scarecrow will be pleased to hear of this," Penguin said, still grinning as he walked out, with Floyd following close behind him.

* * *

Metropolis was a brighter city then Gotham, everyone knew that and it annoyed the rogues of Gotham to no end, simply because, like their winged advisory, they preferred the dark too.

The dark was a rare thing in Metropolis, so any rogue from Gotham only really came there if they really needed to.

So in such a bright place, it was odd to find Lex Luthor's office so dark, of course he found it odd, he could of sworn the lights had been on when he left.

Suddenly the light at his desk flickered on, to show a pair of black and white legs, with loose black and white, ratty trainers, that looked well used sitting on his desk. Of course, Lex knew who this was.

He sighed and hung his coat up. "Any reason you're in my office Jester?"

Jester giggled from her spot at his desk and leant forward. "I wanted to talk to you, about that deal."

"You're wasting your time. I'm not interested," Lex growled.

"Oh? I think you are, wanna' know why?" laughed Jester.

"Do tell."

"Because you're running for president. I know you're having problems with that campaign of yours and I might just know a little guy with a lot of mind control technology that might come in useful for someone who wants to get rid of the competition hmmm?"

Lex turned to her and he could vaguely make out the grin and the jade green eyes that belonged to someone so young, yet so unhinged. "Go on."

Jester slowly got to her feet and encircled the desk. "We need one million dollars and that little gang you have… Ya' know, Hell's gate. We need some extra men, especially since most of the thugs in Gotham are scared stiff of our flyin' rodent."

"I can get you those, but first the mind control technology," Lex growled.

Jester shook her head and wagged her finger. "Uh uh… I want to see the one million first," she said with a devilish grin.

Lex sighed and nodded his head. The problem with doing deals with Arkhamites was, they would always want confirmation, because they were used to dealing with each other.

Lex opened his personal vault and took out one million dollars, before shoving it in the sports bag Jester had provided.

"There, are you happy?" he growled.

Jester smirked and slung it over her shoulder before throwing a deck of mind control cards behind Lex, who had to turn around to catch them, but as soon as he turned back, Jester was gone.

Now it was time for Jester to go back home, to her city of scars, that's what Jester nick named it, because Gotham was a city of scars. Oh yes the Bat would try and be the thread that would sow it all back together, but every so often a stitch would come loose and the seam would pull loose usually at the Arkham part of it. Gotham was one giant patch work, the Bat's uneven stitching was a map of all the chaos the rogues had caused, but it would always wear at the seams, parts would rip, stitching would stretch and ties would be broken, but the patch work that was Gotham would still go on, the Bat would still stitch up the scars and the rogues would simply re-open the cut and put salt in it.

That was Gotham, that was what her city of scars was. The rogues? Well, they were simply minnie Gothams, all of them twisted and corrupted all of them a monster. Because Gotham was also a monster of a city, one giant patch work, nightmarish, monster. The rogues were simply smaller versions in size, but in terror, they were the same.

But Jester didn't care. She was one of those scars after all, she was one of the monsters that destroyed the stitching and poured the salt in.

And she was proud of it.

Now it was time to take back their city, to show Batman who Gotham really belonged to. Now it was time for the Arkhamites to step up and take what was rightfully their's.

It was time to take their monster and turn it into a nightmare.

T.B.C:


End file.
